Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tolamaker" data-source="post: 8585276" data-attributes="member: 7031495">Last session was a loss due to a combination of Daylight Savings and northern and southern hemisphere mixups! We played Microscope last week, which I've been meaning to teach to the group so that if I'm ever gone they can still play something that doesn't need a GM.Session 25Eluriah and the druidic instructor Shayam swim out into open waters, and determine the storm is completely surrounding Seaquen, and is not natural. They resolve to tell the leaders of Seaquen and the Lyceum about this. Eluriah also leans some more Sylvan from Tiljann, though Tiljann is distracted as the play is coming up soon.Gruz learns more Dwarvish from Mishka, and Aripos pulls another heist. Then, they both break into Paradim Dogwood's home, as Gruz believes that there is something going on there that has to do with the monster that ravaged his company. Inside, they find many strange body parts in jars, and a cauldron of biomantic goo that they take a sample of. They don't find anything incriminating in the cottage itself. They take the goo to Orwin, who is able to tell them that it is essentially pure distilled transmutation magic, derived from the life force of many insects.Mishka wants to test the goo, and commissions a hair growth potion from Paradim so that she can braid her hair instead of waiting for it to grow out. Paradim takes a sample of her scalp and gives her a shampoo to rub in several days later, which grows her hair out to her knees by the late evening. She also begins practicing weaving, as her mother had taught her years ago, and she wants to incorporate the practices of her mother's traditions into her armor, clothing, and weapons. She gets help from refugee orcs to catch up on the basics.Orwin watches closely as Tenga tattoos the winner of the Royale battle, Captain Norwell, with a Dragon's Breath tattoo, an array of translucent scales that glow blue when he casts the spell. There, he hears scuttlebut that one of the Ragesian legions has begun assaulting Seaquen's northern border.The group eventually all goes to the council, and find that there are not only Lyceum faculty, but also representatives of Seaquen, refugees, and the nations of Dassen, Sindaire, and Ostalin as well. Tiljann and a Wayfarer are there as well, handing out tickets to the premiere of their play, The Spectacular Trial of Toteth Topec. Simeon welcomes them all, and reiterates the threat that Empress Leska and the Scourge represents to everyone, and opens the floor. The Mayor of Seaquen, a dwarf by the name of Votberd, begins railing against the refugees, complaining about the space they take up, the drain on resources and food, and the influx of crime that they have brought. Laurabec interjects and argues that the refugees have been the main victim of those crimes, and specifically calls out the fact that many refugees have gone missing in the past week or two. Simeon pulls them apart,a nd tells them that is perhaps a discussion for a city meeting. Votberd grumbles about Simeon over his bounds, and Laurabec returns to the side, with her teeth gritted.Next, Eluriah and Shayam present their findings to the council. Simeon asks how long until the storm approaches dangerous levels, and the two druids estimate it will be at hurricane strength within the next three weeks. Simeon agrees with their assessment that they should work on fortifications of the city and the refugee camps to ensure stability. Lee Sidoneth steps in to say that while the storms ahve caused some capsizing of fishing boats, he still believes that he can work out a system where the ships are unmoored, but still safe within the harbor. "That way, we can be ready to respond in case of an attack. But I want it known Simeon, I see no wisdom in attacking Ragesia." Some outroar comes up at the mention of outright war, and Simeon assures the others he also has no desire for warfare.The Dasseni Ambassador, a human named Keifer Numhaut echoes Votberds displeasure for the refugees, complaining of Seaquen's acceptance of them causing them to "run ransack" through Dassen. He makes it clear that Dassen has no reason to support Seaquen. "We have no love for the Ragesians, but if Shaaladel killed Coaltongue, then let them sort it out amongst themselves."Aripose not so quietly suggests assassinating Leska, which causes another uproar. None of the ambassadors want to hear talk of assassinating a head of state. Mishka wonders if Leska perhaps assassinated Coaltongue and used it as an excuse for war and her own power. General Xava acknowledges the possibility, but also says that if she could choose to go to war with any country, there were easier pickings than Shahalesti. Xava then says that if the Scourge begins to ravage other countries, that locating the Torch is of the highest priority. "Old Coaltongue conquered most of the continent with it, and we haven't seen it used since. If Leska had it, she'd be using it."The Sindairese ambassador, Otakar, coming back to the assassination, provides some more information. 'The Old Dragon was putting down dissent among the nobles of Sindaire when a storm of fire opened up above Catle Korstull. Now everything there is dead, burned by months of searing rain. I don't know how anyone could have gotten into that firestorm to retrieve the Torch, no do I know how you would expect to either."This sets the party's mind on Innenotdar. Mishka tells the council of their journey throught he fire forest, and their information regarding the orcs and goblins who set the fires. This surprises the ambassadors, who were not aware of Innenotdar's fire going out. Xava muses on why the Emperor would have sent orcs to set the fire when he could have used the Torch."Because he was a monster," comes an imperious voice. The council looks to the doors and see three elves floating in. One holds a scroll and the banner of Shahalesti, and cries "Hail Shalosha, daughter of the Shining Lord Shaaladel of Shahalesti!"Post-Session ThoughtsAlright, so I had warned the group this would be a info-dump session, and it really was. The biggest thing for me with a lot of NPCs is getting caught in conversations with myself. Whenever that happens, I try and summarize the conversation instead, with the occasional in-voice quote thrown in. It also highlights that most of my voices are just my own with a little gruffness, which is funny. Once the group joined in with questions, it got a little easier. I want to get all the information out, but I also don't want to be talking for 5, 10, 15 minutes at a time as I play with my dolls and make them watch.I made some changes that I'll get to later, but I liked the session a lot. The storm and the council really helped remind them of the bigger picture going on, because we definitely got sidetracked with downtime stuff. I was really happy Eluriah's player latched onto the storm, and the realization that there is a wall of storm clouds in a perfect circle around Seaquen was a nice reveal. It also let them remember the weirdness about Innenotdar catching on fire, and Mishka's player straight up asked me if they had ever questioned Diashan's involvement in the fire. I think they could hear my grin through the mic when I said "Nope!"I will also reiterate what my players have been saying for a while, but its clear that a lot of work went into making the world of WotBS, and it really shows. I may add or change things, but its a really compelling setting on its own. In fact, that's why I feel so confident when I do change things, because the setting is robust enough changing a few plot points or details doesn't derail the larger picture.Changes to the ModuleThe biggest one is definitely that they didn't find anything insidious in Paradim's cottage. I was already planning on changing his plot a little, as we aas a group had decided not to include atrocities against women in the ravages of war that would be going on, so I cut the kidnapping/brothel sidequest, but I decided to go farther and make him an unwitting accomplice to the Ragesians. Everytime they were spying on Paradim, they saw him delivering a barrel somewhere but they never followed him to see him deliver it to Lee. I kind of got a soft spot for the weirdo biomancer who keeps adding eyes and teeth to his body, and does plastic magic surgery on people. So Paradim is innocent, but still tangentially involved in the plot. Also, it gave the group a chance to put two and two together a little early. I didn't expect them to bite, but wanted to offer it.The second change came from a possible misreading, or a change I had decided on months ago, I'm not sure. For some reason, I thought the council was supposed to take place near the play, so I put it off for a few weeks. This turned out to be a misreading, but I actually like it, as it let the party do what they wanted for a while without thinking of the bigger picture, and now it means I get to lull them into thinking the play is just a big lore dump before I jump them.Next week, the Shahalesti make their generous offer!</blockquote>

Verification